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Over the past six weeks we polled PowerMizzou.com subscribers to determine the best player in Tiger football history. Now we're taking the tournament to the hardwood.
Over the next six weeks we will run the same tournament for Mizzou basketball players. The brackets will be posted and explained below. Then, on our premium message board, we will start a poll for each matchup. The polls will remain open through the week, closing on Friday night. The winners will move on to the next round, we will update the bracket and publish a new story and new polls the following Sunday. After six weeks, we will have the best Tiger hoops player as selected by our subscribers.
There are no set criteria for the vote. You can vote for your favorite player, the best player, the most important player, the player with the best socks or the best hair or however else you want to choose. As voting moves to the second round, here is a recap of round one.
THE CHIEVOUS REGION
1) Derrick Chievous vs 8) Clarence Gilbert: Chievous is Mizzou's all-time leading scorer by nearly 400 points, putting up 2,580 from 1985-88. For his career, Chievous averaged 19.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. He shot better than 52% from the field and 79% from the free throw line on a school record 963 attempts. He has the highest career scoring average along with the single season and career marks for total points. He was the 16th overall pick in the NBA and draft and spent three seasons with Houston and Cleveland, averaging 7.1 points per game.
Gilbert is one of the most prolific three-point shooters in school history. After a freshman season in which he averaged 4.2 points, Gilbert then put up 818 three-point shots over three seasons, giving him the first, second and eight most attempts in a single season. Gilbert also has three of the top eight season in terms of the number of threes made and holds the single-game record with 12 in one contest against Iowa State. He averaged 13.2 points, 3 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.3 steals for his career. His 332 three-pointers are the school record.
4) Norm Stewart vs 5) Phil Pressey: Stormin' Norman is most known as Mizzou's all-time winningest coach, but he was a good player in his day as well. Stewart ranks 34th on Mizzou's all-time scoring list despite playing in an era when freshmen weren't eligible. He averaged double figures in all three of his seasons, including 24.1 as a senior, tied for the third-best single season average in school history. Numbers aren't available for his first season, but Stewart averaged 8.9 rebounds a game as a junior and 10.7 as a senior. His 17.7 points per game are seventh on the all-time Mizzou list and his 9.2 rebounds are number seven as well. He played five games with the St. Louis Hawks in the NBA in 1957.
Despite playing just three seasons, Pressey holds the school record for assists (580) and steals (196, tied). His career average of 5.9 assists is more than a full assist per game ahead of second place on the list. There have been only ten games in which a Tiger has recorded 12 or more assists. Six of them belong to Pressey. Pressey also averaged 9.7 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2 steals per game for his career.
3) Marcus Denmon vs 6) Charles Henke: Denmon was a two-time all-Big 12 selection. He averaged 16.9 points per game as a junior and 17.7 as a senior. For his career he averaged 12.6 points per game and is the No. 5 scorer in school history. Denmon is second all-time with 283 three-pointers made and was a member of the winningest class in school history, chalking up 107 victories in his four seasons.
In 74 career games, Henke is just short of averaging a double-double with 18.1 points and 9.8 rebounds. His scoring average ranks fifth all-time at Mizzou. He is sixth on the list in free throws made and attempted and fifth in rebounds per game.
2) John Brown vs 10) Clay Johnson: Brown was the first superstar to play for Stewart at Missouri. His 1,421 points were a school record when he left and still rank 16th on Mizzou's all-time list. He averaged 19.7 points for his career, including 21 in each of his final two seasons. Brown averaged a double-double for his career with exactly ten rebounds per game as well. He was a first-team all-Big Eight selection as a senior and is third all-time in career scoring average. In eight NBA seasons with Atlanta, Chicago and Utah, Brown averaged 7.4 points and 4.4 rebounds a game.
Johnson played just two seasons as a Tiger but averaged 15.2 points and 7.8 rebounds from 1976-78. He shot 57.5% from the field in his first season. He was drafted 110th in the NBA Draft and spent three years with the Lakers and Sonics. He appeared in 80 games, averaging 2.8 points.
THE STIPANOVICH REGION
1) Steve Stipanovich vs 9) Keyon Dooling: Stipo started 124 of his 128 career games in Columbia and averaged double-figure points and at least six rebounds every season. He ended up at 14.4 points and 7.7 boards per game for his career. He led the Tigers to four consecutive Big Eight titles and left as the school's all-time leading scorer (he's now fourth) with 1,836 points. He ranks in the all-time top five in field goals made, free throws made and attempted, rebounds, blocked shots and minutes played. He was the 2nd overall pick in the 1983 draft and averaged 13.2 points and 7.8 rebounds with the Pacers before his career was cut short by injury.
Dooling was Norm Stewart's last blue chip recruit. He spent just two seasons in college, averaging 12.1 points, 3.4 assists, 2.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. He was the 10th overall pick in the NBA Draft following his sophomore season and spent 13 years in the league with seven teams. He averaged 7 points and 2.2 assists per game for his career.
4) Arthur Johnson vs 5) Ron Coleman: AJ ranks sixth all-time at Mizzou with 1,759 points, and first in total rebounds (1.,083) and blocked shots (245). He has 88 more blocked shots than the No. 2 player on the list and his 1.9 blocks per game is a school record for a career. He ranks 4th in school history with 132 games played and started 123 of them. Johnson had 44 career double-doubles, the second-most in school history.
In three seasons from 1965-67, Coleman scored 1,295 points, which lands him 23rd on Mizzou's all-time list more than half a century later. His 17.8 points per game is No. 6 all-time. He shot 78% from the free throw line and also averaged 3.4 rebounds per game.
3) Ricky Frazier vs 6) Kim Anderson: Frazier won three Big Eight titles, was a two-time all-conference player and was the Big Eight player of the year and an all-American in 1982 despite sharing the spotlight with Stipanovich and Sundvold. He is 14th on the school's all-time scoring list, but is second among players who played fewer than four seasons. Frazier averaged 15.4 points per game and shot 59.4% from the field for his career, which ranks third in school history. He averaged 6.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.
Anderson ranks 24th on Missouri's all-time scoring list and averaged at least 13.9 points per game in each of his last three seasons. He was the Big Eight Player of the Year as a senior when he averaged 18.3 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. For his career, he averaged 14 points and 7.3 boards in 97 games. He played 21 games for the Portland Trailblazers in the 1978-79 season.
2) Willie Smith vs 7) Jevon Crudup: Smith is the only Tiger to average at least 20 points per game for his career. His 23.9 per game over two seasons in 1975-76 are the most in school history by four points a game. He was a two-time all-Big Eight selection and was the league's leading scorer and an all-American in 1976 when he scored 25.3 points per game and led the Tigers to their first conference title in 46 seasons and the Elite Eight. He shot 79% from the free throw line and averaged 5.6 rebounds in his two seasons. His 43 points against Michigan in the 1976 NCAA Regional Final are the most points ever scored in a post-season game by a Tiger. He scored 30 points or more 12 times in 58 career games, second-most in school history.
Crudup made an immediate impact, scoring 12 points a game, the fifth-best average in school history for a freshman. He averaged more than 13 per game in each of his last three seasons and ended up as the 15th leading scorer in school history. He started 101 of 105 career games and played nearly 3,000 minutes. He is seventh in school history in total rebounds and ninth in steals per game with 1.4.
THE SMITH REGION
1) Doug Smith vs 9) Byron Irvin: Smith is the second-leading scorer in school history with 2,184 points. He is the only Tiger to have 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds for a career. He is in the top ten in school history in each of the following categories: field goals made (1), field goals attempted (1), free throws made (7), free throws attempted (7), rebounds (2), rebounds per game (10), steals (5), steals per game (9), blocked shots (4), blocked shots per game (8), games played (10) and minutes played (8). He was the 1991 Big Eight Player of the Year. He was a first round pick of the Dallas Mavericks and averaged eight points and 4.2 rebounds over five NBA seasons.
Irvin scored more points in two seasons than any Tiger other than Willie Smith. He is 37th on the career scoring list with 1,096 points, averaging 12.9 and 19.7 in his two years. He was an all-Big Eight player as a senior and had 34 points, 9 rebounds and six assists in a win over Oklahoma, Mizzou's first ever over a No. 1 team. He ranks 7th in steals per game and his 64 in 1988-89 are tied for the sixth-most in a single season.
4) DeMarre Carroll vs 5) Al Eberhard: Carroll was a Tiger for just two years after transferring from Vanderbilt, but he made them count. Carroll put up 1,046 points in his two seasons and averaged 14.9 per game. He shot 54.9% from the floor and averaged 6.9 rebounds a game. Carroll was the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year in his first season and helped lead the Tigers to a school-record 31 wins as a senior. He has averaged 8.9 points and 4.3 rebounds over an 11-year NBA career.
Eberhard is the No. 19 scorer in school history and is fifth among players who played fewer than four years. He averaged 16.8 points per game and 10.1 rebounds, which is the third best mark in school history. As a senior, Eberhard was an all-Big Eight selection when he averaged 19.7 and 12.0 rebounds. He ranks in the top ten on the all-time list in free throws made and free throw percentage. He holds the single-season (22) and career (45) record for double-doubles. After Mizzou, he averaged 6.8 points and 3.5 rebounds in four seasons with the Detroit Pistons.
3) Kareem Rush vs 6) Don Tomlinson: Rush is the top scorer in school history among players who played fewer than four seasons. The smooth left-hander piled up 1,584 points in just 84 games. Rush was the Big 12 rookie of the year when he set a Mizzou freshman record averaging 14.7 points per game. His 21.1 points per game as a sophomore are the most in Mizzou history in that class as well. He averaged 19.8 a game as a junior and was a two-time first-team all-Big 12 player. Rush is fourth in career scoring average and fifth in three-pointers made. He spent seven seasons in the NBA, averaging 6.4 points and 1.7 rebounds.
Tomlinson averaged at least 14.2 points per game in each of his three seasons from 1967-70 and came in at 15.6 for his career. He was a first-team all-Big Eight pick as a junior when he averaged 17.4 points and 6.9 rebounds a game. He made the second-team as a senior with 14.2 points and 5.5 boards. He is the No. 30 scorer in school history and ranks in the top four in both free throws made and attempted.
2) Melvin Booker vs 7) Lee Coward: Booker was the Big Eight Player of the Year as a senior when he led the Tigers to an unbeaten record in the Big Eight and their last regular season conference championship. He averaged 18.1 points, 4.5 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game that season. That capped a career in which Booker was the No. 7 scorer in school history. He is ninth in career three-pointers made, tenth in field goals made, eighth in free throws and third in assists.
Coward was remarkably consistent for the Tigers from 1986-90. After averaging just over six points per game as a freshman he averaged 11, 12..2 an 11.2 in his final three seasons. He checks in at No. 25 on the all-time scoring list with 1,273 points. Coward holds the school-record for single-season three-point percentage, making 52.7% from behind the arc in 1987-88. Coward ranks fifth all-time in assists and sixth in assists per game. Perhaps his biggest claim to fame is beating Kansas with a jump shot in the final five seconds...twice.
THE PEELER REGION
1) Anthony Peeler vs 8) Malcolm Thomas: Peeler is the No. 3 scorer in school history with 1,973 points. That was capped by a Big Eight Player of the Year senior season in which he averaged 23.4 points per game, bringing his career average to 16.8. AP averaged double figures all four seasons as a Tiger. He is fifth in career field goals made and second in free throws made. He held the school records for both steals and assists when he graduated and still ranks tied for first and second in those categories, respectively. His 43-point game at Kansas is tied for the fourth-most individual points in school history and his nine 30-point games are also fourth.
In 59 games, Thomas had 54 starts and averaged more than 33 minutes per game. He scored 1,002 points in his two seasons, averaging right at 17 per game. He also averaged 8.2 rebounds per game and was an all-Big Eight selection as a senior.
5) Rickey Paulding vs 13) Ricardo Ratliffe: After averaging seven points in 17 minutes as a freshman, Paulding posted double-figure averages in each of his final three seasons and ended his career No. 10 on the Tigers' all-time scoring chart with 1,673 points. A two-time second-team all-Big 12 pick, Paulding averaged 12.8 points and four rebounds for his career. After starting his career on an historic cold streak from three-point range, Paulding ended up seventh on the career list with 191 made triples in his career. That included nine in the NCAA Tournament against Marquette, the second-most in a game in school history. Paulding also had a seven-steal game against Colorado, which is the second-most in school history.
Ratliffe came at Mizzou as the top junior college prospect in the country and averaged 10.6 points and six rebounds in his first season. As a senior, Ratliffe averaged 13.9 points and 7.5 rebounds while shooting 69.3% from the field, which is a school record. Ratliffe also ranks 10th in school history with 80 blocked shots and is tied for third with 1.2 blocks per game.
3) Larry Drew vs 6) Joe Scott: Drew was the 1980 Big Eight player of the year when he averaged 12.9 points, five assists and 2.8 rebounds per game. He is No. 18 on the school's all-time scoring list and No. 4 with 433 assists. Drew was a first round pick of Detroit in the NBA Draft and averaged 11.4 points over ten seasons. He has scored more points in the NBA than any other player in Mizzou history.
Scott played three seasons for the Tigers from 1958-61. He averaged 9.9, 18.4 and 16.5 points in those three years and is No. 35 on the all-time career list. But for a single day, no Tiger has ever done it better. Scott's 46 points against Nebraska in 1961 are the single-game school record. He was an all-Big Eight selection and left as the No. 4 scorer in school history.
2) Jon Sundvold vs 7) Kelly Thames: Sundvold is the No. 11 scorer in school history with 1,597 career points and most wonder where he could have ranked if there was a three-point line when he played. Sundvold is the career leader in minutes played at Mizzou and helped lead the Tigers to four consecutive Big Eight Conference titles. He averaged 17.1 points per game as a senior and 12.5 for his career. He was a first round draft pick of the Seattle Supersonics and spent nine years in the NBA, averaging 7.7 points and shooting 39% from three-point range. Sundvold is also second in career free throw percentage at Mizzou.
Many wonder what Thames' career could have been and lose sight of what it was. Thames was the Big Eight freshman of the year after averaging 12.2 points on the undefeated Big Eight championship team. He tore his ACL and missed the next season, but came back to average 12.7, 13.0 and 14.8 points his last three years. He is still the No. 8 all-time scorer at Mizzou with 1,689 points. He also averaged 6.9 rebounds a game in his four-year career.
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